Tag archive for obituary

I recently heard from Chris Roush, grandson of Missouri folk artist Bob Smithy, who is interested in selling the remaining sculptures at his grandfather’s house in Plevna, Missouri. (Bob passed away on May 18, 2012.) Bob Smithy, born in 1930, has worked as a trucker…

Kentucky folk artist Ronald Cooper died in a hospital in Lexington on Saturday, August 18th, 2012. Ronald and Jessie Cooper became artists by chance in their mid-fifties. Prior to that, their lives had followed a path common for their generation: early marriage, leaving their home-town…

(Story and photos courtesy of Fred Scruton) For over 50 years Ron Manolio cheerfully hand-painted the (real) eggshells for Betty Manolio’s Eggshelland graph paper designs. I’ve truly never met a person who exuded such giddy delight over bringing pleasure to other people. The immense regional…

Mr. Imagination with his work at Folk Fest in Atlanta, 2009 March 30, 1948 – May 30, 2012 Mr. Imagination embodied art and the creative spirit. The third of nine children, he was born on the South Side of Chicago in March 1948 as Gregory…

The house that Charlie Stagg built is a sprawling complex of beams and bottles and concrete, with a big domed building that serves as his studio. Charlie did the work himself, hauling all the materials in “the way bugs do it,” he told the guys…

photo courtesy of Slide Quest Bob Cassilly, founder of City Museum, found dead in bulldozer at his Cementland project By Dale Singer, Beacon reporter Updated 4:08 pm Mon., 9.26.11 Bob Cassilly, who turned a collection of unusual artifacts into City Museum, a top tourist attraction…